New community plans for Wirral's neighbourhoods
The Localism Act 2011 introduced new powers for communities to have a bigger say on the planning policies that operate within their areas.
Community groups wishing to use the new powers must make a formal application to the council to be designated as a neighbourhood forum and to identify an appropriate neighbourhood area, subject to a number of legal conditions.
The council will publish and consult on the applications and will normally take the decision whether to designate within 13 weeks of an application being publicised.
Once a neighbourhood forum and a neighbourhood area have been designated, the forum must draw up their proposals in consultation with the local community, in line with the Localism Act and National Regulations which were last amended in January 2015 and September 2016
Once complete, their proposals must be submitted to the council for public examination and voted on in a local referendum before they can be brought into legal effect by council resolution.
The council can provide advice and guidance on the process for registering as a neighbourhood forum and on the procedures for preparing a Neighbourhood Development Plan or Neighbourhood Development Order.
Further changes were introduced by the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017, which include new procedures for the modification of existing neighbourhood development plans (Schedule 1 refers).
For further details contact forwardplanning@wirral.gov.uk.
Existing neighbourhood areas
There are currently five designated Neighbourhood Areas in Wirral:
A map showing the associated boundaries of the Neighbourhood Areas can be viewed here: